Welfare benefits available

“I was in a tough spot. I was out of a job, and I didn’t qualify for EI. I was skipping meals to save money, and was barely able to afford rent. A friend suggested I meet with a community worker, who encouraged me to apply for welfare. Now I don’t have to stress about paying for essentials while I sort out my work situation.”

– Pamela, Penticton, BC

For British Columbians who lack resources and are struggling to meet their basic needs, welfare benefits offer a lifeline. These are payments provided by the provincial government. Those who qualify receive money every month to help pay for their support (daily living costs) and shelter (housing expenses). 

The government office that oversees BC’s welfare program is the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction. In this guidance, we refer to it as the ministry.

Who qualifies for welfare

There are rules about how much income and assets you can have and still get welfare. In order to qualify, any money you get from other sources (minus some exemptions) must be below a certain level. This is called your income limit. As well, the value of your assets (the things you own) must be below a certain amount. This is called your asset limit. 

You may be eligible for welfare if any of the following apply:

• you’re out of work or not earning enough to meet your basic needs

• you’re waiting for other sources of income to arrive

• you can only work very little, or not at all

• you urgently need food, shelter, or medical attention

For more on eligibility requirements, see applying for welfare.

In BC, there are four types of welfare benefits available. Each pays a monthly amount to help with support and shelter costs. But the amount you receive differs, depending on which benefit you qualify for.

• Income assistance is the basic type of welfare that most people start with when they apply. 

• Disability assistance is available to those with a severe mental or physical impairment that restricts their ability to perform daily living activities.

• Benefits for persons with persistent multiple barriers to employment (PPMB) are available to those with a medical condition that makes it difficult or impossible to look for work or keep a job.

• Hardship assistance is available to those who, for specific reasons, don’t qualify for any of the three welfare benefits listed above. 

The information below focuses on income assistance. Elsewhere, we cover disability benefits available.

If you qualify for welfare benefits, you’ll receive money each month that’s made up of a support allowance and a shelter allowance. 

The support allowance is money that goes towards your daily needs, such as:

• food

• clothing

• personal items

• laundry

• debt payments

• transportation

The amount of your support allowance depends on the type of welfare you get and your living situation. We explain this below.

The shelter allowance helps with housing expenses, including:

• rent

• mortgage payments

• essential utilities

• property taxes

• moorage or campground fees for those with non-traditional housing

Below, we explain how your shelter allowance is calculated. 

The amount you receive in welfare benefits depends on which benefits you qualify for, your age, and the size of your family unit. Your family unit includes you and your dependents. A spouse (married or unmarried) who lives with you is a dependent. So is a minor child who lives with you more than half the time and relies on you for necessities, like food and shelter.

Calculating your support allowance

The law sets out how much you may receive as a support allowance on income assistance. The amount of your monthly payment increases with the size of your family unit. And those age 65 or older are entitled to a higher rate. Here are some examples of monthly support allowance rates as of October 2025.

For those receiving disability assistance or benefits for persons with persistent multiple barriers to employment, the support allowance rates are different. See our guidance on disability benefits.

Calculating your shelter allowance

Under the law, your shelter allowance is what you pay for your housing, including utilities, up to a maximum amount. If your housing costs are more than the maximum, you must pay the difference out of your support allowance or other income.

The amount of your shelter allowance increases with the size of your family unit. Here are some examples of monthly shelter allowance rates as of October 2025.

If your actual housing expenses are less than the minimum shelter allowance rate, you’ll still receive the minimum allowance. For example, if you live alone and your monthly housing costs are $55, you would still receive a $75 shelter allowance. 

Here are the current support and shelter allowance rates for those on income assistance.

If you’re struggling to meet your needs but don’t qualify for income assistance, you may be eligible for hardship assistance. Like income assistance, hardship assistance provides a monthly support and shelter allowance. But it’s temporary, and is paid on a month-to-month basis. So you’ll need to prove your eligibility for each month you require assistance. 

The ministry only provides hardship assistance in certain situations. For example, if you’re waiting for other income to come in, like employment insurance, and in the meantime you don’t have enough money to meet your essential needs. 

Some (but not all) hardship assistance payments are repayable. That is, those receiving hardship assistance may run up a debt owing to the ministry. There may also be time limitations involved. For example, in some cases you can only receive hardship assistance for three consecutive months at a time.

How much you may receive in hardship assistance

The law sets out the maximum amount you may receive in hardship assistance. You’ll get up to the same support and shelter allowance as a family unit of your size on income assistance, described above. Here are the current hardship assistance rates.

Note that hardship assistance rates are different for those with the persons with disability designation or who face health issues and other barriers to employment. See our guidance on disability benefits.

If you qualify for welfare benefits, there is additional help in the form of supplements. These are on top of the support and shelter allowances described above. 

Supplements are additional payments and supports the ministry provides to those on welfare to help them with a particular need. The ministry provides some supplements automatically. Other supplements you have to apply for.

Some supplements must be paid back to the ministry through a small reduction in your monthly benefit.

General supplements help cover a range of costs

General supplements help with expenses relating to housing, employment, transportation, family, and more. 

For example, the confirmed job supplement helps pay for work-related items you need to start a new job. There’s also a supplement to help with the cost of obtaining identification documents. 

Housing-related supplements help pay security and pet damage deposits, and can cover some moving expenses. Family- and children-related supplements help cover camp fees and costs associated with children starting school. There’s also a winter supplement to help with extra expenses during the winter holiday season.

A crisis supplement may be available to assist those facing an unexpected need or expense. It provides a one-time payment to prevent imminent danger to the health of the recipient or someone in their family unit.

For a full list of supplements, see the ministry’s website.

Basic medical coverage and health supplements

Everyone receiving welfare in BC qualifies for basic medical coverage. This includes Medical Services Plan benefits and PharmaCare coverage for many free prescription drugs. The ministry can apply for you to get basic medical coverage.

Depending on the type of assistance you receive, you may also qualify for health supplements. These are a separate category of supplements available to those with certain health needs. Examples include supplements to help with the cost of emergency dental services and meeting special dietary needs.  

Here’s the full list of health supplements available and a table showing who’s eligible.